Xiaomi plans $15 billion foray into electric cars

Xiaomi Corp. plans to invest about 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) over the next three years to manufacture electric cars, a person familiar with the matter said, embarking on its biggest-ever overhaul to enter China’s booming EV market.

The Chinese smartphone maker is the latest to pile into an already crowded arena, where an array of automakers from Tesla Inc. to local upstarts Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc. are battling for a slice of the world’s biggest EV market. Search giant Baidu Inc. and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. are also said to be teaming up to build electric cars. EV sales in China may climb more than 50 per cent this year alone as consumers embrace cleaner automobiles and costs tumble, research firm Canalys estimates.